Speaking the Truth one word at a time

Posts Tagged ‘Mayday’

The first of May: originally a day set aside for celebration of the onset of real Spring, with flowers, multicolored ribbons flowing from poles called, unsurprisingly, “Maypoles”, and happy, dancing children, the word “Mayday” has become a universal distress signal, derived not from the first day of May, but from the French, “m’aider,” which means “help me.” In the former U.S.S.R., it was a celebration of “Workers,” and a parade to display tanks and military strength.

But today, in these United States, it is a Mayday of epic proportions, as our beloved Gulf swims with an unceasing flow of oil spurting from under its floor for reasons yet unknown. After a week of helplessly watching thousands of gallons spew daily from below, the pResident suddenly yesterday dispensed SWAT teams to the area. SWAT?? As in, BANG! POW!? Since when do SWAT teams function as data gathering forensics teams?! No one seems to know or is letting on the actual cause for this debacle, which far surpasses the Exxon Valdez’s 1990’s dust up in Alaska, but reports that an accident of this magnitude is highly improbably are beginning to surface. Many associated with engineering safeguards claim that this could only have happened as a result of sabotage or a direct attack.

Add to this the riot police Illinois sicced on that bunch of God Bless America singing old ladies, the Arizona border war and the almost literal flak their governor has received for trying to address an untenable situation…and the list goes on.

Nothing to solve today–sometimes all one can do is research the problem, keep a cool head and resort to prayer and meditation for a bit.

May Day: It’s a celebration of Spring. It’s a day of political protests. It’s a neopagan festival, a saint’s feast day, and a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday. The first of May was once a happy day spent in celebration of spring. In medieval England, people would celebrate the start of spring by going out to the country or woods—”going a-maying”—and gathering flowers, or “bringing in the may.” Here in America, it was once a day for parties, May poles with ribbons and apple blossums. Vikings had Walpurgis Night, Celtics Beltain, Latin countries have Cinco de Mayo four days later, and Obby Oss is thought to be the oldest May Day celebration in Europe, dating back to the 13th century. In the hey days of the former U.S.S.R., large parades, populated with all manner of military vehicles and weaponry, were the word of the day, celebrating The People and, of course, most importantly, The State.
Mayday, on the other hand, is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in radio communications. It derives from the French “venez m’aider” [“r” is silent], meaning ‘come help me’. It is used to signal life-threatening emergency, and The Call is always given three times in a row (“Mayday Mayday Mayday”) to prevent mistaking it for something similar-sounding under noisy conditions, and to distinguish an actual Mayday call from a message about a Mayday call.
Unfortunately, today marks occasion for both. A big H/T to American Genie, Logistics Monster and Live, Fortunes, Sacred Honor for continuing to make us aware of the many dangers we presently face, including the hubristic, invasive and illegal tactics practiced by ACORN, and reminding us that even though it is difficult to wrap our minds around this stuff, it is vital that we do so at our peril. After reading Genie and Namvet’s posts about it, I shared my own experience with ACORN brownshirts trespassing on my property without permission, and if it is any portent of the future, we do indeed have much to fear.

When I found them in my yard, I told them that I was not interested in helping them in any way as

1) They were illegally on my property without my permission;

2) It was not census time;

3) Census is a NOT constitutionally within the purview of the FREAKING WHITE HOUSE.

The nice old gent in front wavered a moment until his partner in crime, a no nonsense type older woman who seemed to have a lot of experience rounding up uncooperative enemies of the State told him he had to hand me a piece of paper, which he did. It was the same one Genie received, reminding us what we are “obligated” to do and what we are not.

But wait–there’s more!
Five minutes later I was in the back yard and whom do I see trespassing around my old, helpless single neighbor’s back yard and outbuildings–the same pair of miscreants. I yelled, “CAN I HELP YOU?” and they mumbled something about looking for other residents on the property. I told them that no one lived there and that they needed to move on. Unfortunately, the damage was already done. GPS in hand, they had managed to creep my neighborhood and register it on on their hand held device before anyone could chase them off.

They are *only* GPS marking your front door now, and Sec. 223, Title 13, U.S. Code, Chapter 7, Subtitle 2 provides the Fed NO authority to GPS paint your front door. Best I can tell, the Fed has NO authority whatsoever, to paint the front door of every private residence in America. Still, that is exactly what they are doing. Now, the trillion dollar question is, why?

And, finally, and perhaps most disturbing, [it IS a tough call, after all, with such massive amounts of shock and awe assaulting us every day] I bring a bon voyage message from my friend Doctorate, on her way to some blessed R & R in warm sunny climes Take heed, people. Read and remember:

The Audacity of Hubris: How an Enabling Press Corps Produces a Culture of Pathological Liars.

[One] could literally see Robert Gibbs’s nose growing yesterday as he made statements about what Joe Biden “meant” regarding Swine Flu and his family’s travel prospects. This combined with the recent bowing-to-royalty incident, which we literally watched on video while he told us it wasn’t happening, is beyond the pale. It all reminds me of when I lived in Santiago for five years. In underdeveloped countries under authoritarian rule, there is not only constant manipulation of the press by the government – which uses the media as a propaganda tool – but the average citizen learns to have no qualms about lying through his or her teeth about the most mundane of topics. For example, if you would ask someone for directions there back in the 80s, and they did not know the answer, they would happily make up something and send you wherever. It was less shameful to invent a story then to say, “I don’t know,” or to articulate an explanation or apology. This is part of the underdeveloped mentality generally and could happen under any type of government; but it is facilitated by authoritarianism in cases where the ruling party sets the tone even for thought.
We are dealing in the realm of idiocy here and sometimes it is indeed laughable, though no less terrifying.
PS: I trust the opposition is in good hands right now, including yours. If you could do one thing while I am away, could you please remove the usurper? Just that would be great. Seriously, here’s hoping the lawsuits are in full substantive swing when I get back.

As I said, folks…Mayday Mayday Mayday…and thank god for all the good guys on OUR side!